‘The Israeli occupation does not distinguish’: Gaza family mourns Christian mother and daughter

What Happened

Middle East Eye reported that an Israeli air strike hit the al-Asala residential building in western Gaza City at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, killing five Palestinians, according to Palestinian authorities and church representatives. Among the dead were Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar and her mother Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud, identified by the Palestinian church; the two Christian women had been sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church before moving to the apartment. Their bodies were taken to St Porphyrius Church for funeral prayers, where Gaza’s Christian community and Muslim neighbours gathered. Witness Emad Kullab said the building was residential and that the women were killed immediately; resident Yasser Abu Juba described a decapitated doorman and a Christian neighbour also decapitated. The Israeli military did not provide a comment in the article.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The strike killed members of Gaza's already small Christian community, which numbers fewer than 1,000 people, and follows a pattern of attacks on Christian sites during the war—including the October 2023 strike on St Porphyrius Church that killed at least 18, the December 2023 killing of a woman and her daughter at Holy Family parish, and a July 2025 strike on Holy Family Catholic Church that killed three people and wounded Father Gabriel Romanelli. The deaths underscore the vulnerability of religious minorities and civilians in densely populated residential areas, and may add to international legal scrutiny of Israeli military operations in Gaza.

Watch For

Watch for an Israeli military response to the reported al-Asala strike, any further identification of the five killed by Palestinian authorities or church representatives, and statements from the Latin Patriarchate or Vatican. Also monitor whether the incident is cited in ongoing ICC or ICJ proceedings concerning attacks on civilian infrastructure and protected sites in Gaza.